Abducted college student, suspect killed while fleeing from troopers: Police

After an Ohio State University student was abducted, the suspect allegedly led police on a chase, which ended in the deaths of both the victim and her alleged kidnapper.

Student Skylar Williams, 20, was at Ohio State’s Mansfield campus at about 11:45 a.m. Monday when she was approached by suspect Ty’rell Pounds, according to Ohio State’s public safety department.

Pounds, 24, reportedly armed with a handgun, forced Williams into a car and fled, the university’s statement said.

“Someone just kidnapped a girl on campus with a gun,” a frantic woman told a 911 dispatcher.

PHOTO: Ty’Rell Pounds and Skylar Williams, in a photo provided by Ohio State University. Police are looking for Williams who was abducted by Pounds at gunpoint on Feb. 11, 2019. (Dept. of Public Safety/Ohio State University)

Pounds’ roommate told police that Williams and Pounds were going through custody issues, authorities said. Williams had also previously accused Pounds of sexual assault in September 2018 and in a police report from Jan. 3, 2019, after Pounds tried to pull Williams into his vehicle at a gas station, she told police she had filed an order of protection against Pounds.

While chasing after Pounds, a “trooper heard a gunshot coming from within the vehicle which he perceived as an immediate deadly threat to himself and the female passenger,” state police said in a news release. “The trooper drew his service weapon and fired at which time the suspect was struck resulting in his death at the scene. During this event, the female passenger was struck by at least one round of gunfire.”

Williams was taken to a hospital and declared dead, police said.

It was not immediately clear if she was shot by Pounds or an officer.

“Our Ohio State community suffered a tragic loss with the death of Mansfield student Skylar Williams,” Ohio State University President Michael Drake said in a statement Tuesday.

“This senseless and shocking incident has left our campus shaken,” Drake said. “Our thoughts and prayers are with Skylar’s family.”